Read The Law. SB 375 Does Not Superceed Citizen Planning.

The often held belief among those in North Bay government and involved Marinites is that the state has extraordinary legal power to control local zoning. It turns out that while that is sometimes true, that power is often based more on bluffing.

Example one is a controversial California law commonly known as SB 375. Authored by State Senator Darrel Steinberg (D-Sacramento), SB 375 encourages the building of housing along existing transportation corridors as a method to control global warming. It’s good in theory and can lawfully accomplish that goal when done in a sensitive manner in conjunction with the citizen-controlled city and county planning process.

Citizens are informed by the bureaucrats at the Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission that SB 375 gives them the power to order local governments to supercede their citizen-based planning process to comply with their edicts purporting to comply with SB 375.

Not true. While the regional agencies can demand compliance if a city or county requests regional funds for transportation improvements or housing subsidies, that’s their only hammer. When ABAG, MTC or a planning department disputes this fact, tell them to “read the law.” If they won’t do it, sue. Here’s the law:

SEC. 4. Section 65080 of the Government Code is amended to read: 65080 (J)
Neither a sustainable communities strategy nor an alternative planning strategy regulates the use of land, nor, except as provided by subparagraph (I), shall either one be subject to any state approval. Nothing in a sustainable communities strategy shall be interpreted as superseding the exercise of the land use authority of cities and counties within the region. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to limit the state board’s authority under any other provision of law. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to authorize the abrogation of any vested right whether created by statute or by common law. Nothing in this section shall require a city’s or county’s land use policies and regulations, including its general plan, to be consistent with the regional transportation plan or an alternative planning strategy. Nothing in this section requires a metropolitan planning organization to approve a sustainable communities strategy that would be inconsistent with Part 450 of Title 23 of, or Part 93 of Title 40 of, the Code of Federal Regulations and any administrative guidance under those regulations. Nothing in this section relieves a public or private entity or any person from compliance with any other local, state, or federal law.